The role of neighborhood associations (NAs) in Palo Alto politics has
been a major news story throughout the spring. The story effectively
started on April 14th when nine NAs along the Arastradero-Charleston
corridor supported the proposal by City staff to have a coordinated
traffic study for the corridor and to have a moratorium on large
projects so that the study would not be made irrelevant by events.
This was followed on April 25th by the Palo Alto Daily News
publishing a "rogue's gallery" of pictures of various neighborhood
leaders attending a meeting of PAN (Palo Alto Neighborhoods). Then on
April 28th, the Mayor's State of the City address expressed concerns
about the increased power of NAs. There has been a slow stream of
stories since.
In a way it is nice that the newspapers are finally taking note of
the role of NAs, but it is discouraging how much misinformation and
distortion has appeared. I will start by outlining how the BPA
interacts with other NAs, both individually and through PAN, then
speculate on some of the undercurrents on this issue, and finish by
asking for some feedback in this area.

Interactions with other NAs
The policy of the BPA is to not take positions on issues that do not
affect the Barron Park neighborhood. For example, on the proposed
development at Rickey's Hyatt, the BPA Board could (and has) taken a
position on the traffic impacts but would not take any position on
most design aspects of the project. The exceptions are when an aspect
of a project would set a negative precedent. This policy has two
primary motivations: (1) it helps us avoid expending effort on issues
unrelated to Barron Park, and (2) it helps us avoid inadvertently
taking sides on an issue that is contentious within that neighborhood.

This policy can, and has, produced awkward situations when other NAs
come to us asking for support for a position. If that position
includes items on which the BPA takes no position, we do not endorse
it, but rather issue a separate statement supporting those items on
which the BPA does take a position. The BPA does not endorse
positions taken by other NAs simply for solidarity.

PAN
PAN (Palo Alto Neighborhoods) is a loose umbrella organization of NAs
that meets roughly bi-monthly and is primarily a forum for
information exchange. The BPA is a prime example of a NA that has a
significant reservoir of expertise on city issues. During my early
years on the BPA Board, I had a steep learning curve about a range of
City issues (special thanks to Will Beckett and Bob Moss), and I am
fortunate to still be able to consult with neighborhood experts on a
range of issues. However, many of the other NAs are not so fortunate;
some are recently formed, and others go through long periods of
inactivity, and thus they have very little organizational memory or
expertise in many areas. Even the established NAs occasionally have
gaps. For example, after more than a decade, flood control on
Matadero Creek re-emerged as an issue for Midtown, and through PAN,
the BPA learned that Midtown was having problems dealing with the
Water District (the county agency handling the problem). Three BPA
Board members with long experience in this area met with Midtown's
representatives, and our advice helped them achieve a satisfactory
result.
In addition to this mentoring/advising, PAN also provides a mechanism
for sharing effort across the NAs. For example, arranging
get-to-know-each-other meetings with leaders of other civic groups.
This reality is far different from what appeared in the Daily
articles in April and May: They portrayed PAN as a group of
neighborhood leaders plotting strategy in secret meetings.

Neighborhoods' Increasing
Influence
In the Mayor's State of the City speech, she stated, "Neighborhood
associations have banded together to create large and small e-mail
communication networks that have changed the lobbying landscape
significantly from the daysbut six years agowhen a
neighborhood typically fought its battles in solo mode. The business
community, in an attempt to level the playing field, is trying to
find an effective way to respond. " (full text available at
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/3574
[Updated: originally published link is dead:
www.PaloAltoOnline.com/paw/paonline/news/2003_04_28.stateofcity28.shtml]).

This theme has been echoed by several other city leaders and by the
local press. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to learn what is behind
these statements. The immediate stimulus seems to have been the
statement of support by the nine neighborhood associations for the
Arastradero-Charleston traffic study and moratorium. E-mail played an
important role in the fine tuning of the actual statement to make it
something that all nine could support.

What I find strange is that this is presented as the neighborhoods
gaining advantage over other interests, instead of the neighborhoods
starting to catch up. The neighborhoods along the corridor have been
complaining for many years that traffic had crossed a critical
threshold: because of concerns about safety, an ever-increasing
number of parents were driving their children to school, thereby
increasing the amount of traffic. What it took was an impending
crisis - a group of large-scale developments along the corridor plus
the reopening of Terman - to spur action by the City. The moratorium
would not have been necessary if the traffic study had not been
deferred for so long.

A curious aspect of the comments of people decrying the increasing
influence of the neighborhoods is the prominence given to e-mail and
web sites. Some have speculated that those critics are simply
uncomfortable with those modes of communication and therefore find it
vaguely threatening. Others speculate that electronic communication
is a proxy for cultural differences, both on policy issues and on
decision-making processes. Another possibility is that electronic
communication makes it practical for people with busy lives to become
involved without huge ongoing investments of time. If this is the
case, I suspect the concern is combination of "A little knowledge can
be dangerous" as well as a concern about shifting political balances
that could result from broader participation. The safe bet is that
there is a bit of each of these in the reaction.

News Coverage
The town I grew up in (back East) had a paper named The Leader, but
it was widely referred to as The Mis-Leader, and a common critique
was "When I finished reading the story, I knew less than when I
began." One would expect better in a city like Palo Alto, but the
coverage of local politics is very poor (each of the papers in its
own way). A common critique is that the papers hype peripheral
issues, largely ignoring the substantive issues. A waggish
assessment: rather than News you can use, it is Stories to amuse.

The "dysfunctional City Council" has been an ongoing major news story
for a year, but is portrayed as an issue of personality and of style
and method of interaction. My sense is that there is an unvoiced
fundamental disagreement about the role and power of the Council
relative to City staff, and this distorts how individual issues are
decided. Personality and style differences then exacerbate the
problem and muddy what is really happening.

I would appreciate feedback on (1) how well you feel you are being
served by the local newspapers? (2) would you be interested in
reading additional info? and at what level of detail? (3) what areas
interest you. Scattered among the many messages I receive on civic
matters are many interesting insights and details that warrant wider
distribution. I don't forward these messages to the BPA lists because
they do not stand alone. They depend upon information from messages
earlier in the thread. They are written for people who are closely
following issues, and hence assume background knowledge that a normal
resident does not have. And they are often overloaded with details.
There is discussion about whether it would be worth the considerable
effort to produce analyses that are more accessible. These could
include both overviews and explanations of various positions.
Reply to me at email address [temporary email address, now deactivated]
or by telephone at 650-856-3302. Email is preferred. And even if you
don't have a comment, I would appreciate knowing how many people read
the whole article.

Alma Plaza was included at the last minute by City Council in the
Arastradero-Charleston traffic study and moratorium. This will
effectively delay any decision on the renovation of the Albertson's
grocery store and the rest of the Plaza until after the Council
election, and possibly until next year.

The Council seemed to have been surprised at the success of the
petition for a referendum on the proposed development at 800 High
Street. Alma Plaza has some overlapping issues with 800 High. Reading
between the lines of what has been said, some Council members didn't
want Alma Plaza to become entangled with 800 High and others are
looking to use the 800 High referendum as a guide on residents'
opinion on a range of development projects.

The Planning and Transportation Commission approved this plan on
March 12. It was anticipated to go to the City Council in May or
June. However, the backlog of other issues means that the earliest it
could be considered is September, but it is being targeted for
November or December. This would allow for some additional slippage
in Council's schedule plus avoid having a hot button item just before
the election.

Conclusion of the Article
This is the second part of a biographical article on Elisha O. Crosby,
who founded Mayfield Farm. As was described in first part, published
in the Spring 2003 Issue of this newsletter, Mayfield Farm occupied
the land that now comprises the traditional "core" of Barron Park.

Mayfield Farm
In the winter of 1852-53, the State of California was only two years
old and the land that is now Barron Park was still part of Rancho
Rincon de San Francisquito, informally known as Rancho Santa Rita. It
was owned by the Robles family, who deeded 250 acres of their rancho
on April 10, 1853 to Elisha O. Crosby for $2,000. Crosby named it
"Mayfield." This 250-acre estate, with a later 100-acre addition, was
held as one parcel from 1853 until 1919. It constitutes the
traditional "core" of the modern Barron Park neighborhood. Crosby was
the third owner of our land.

Elisha Crosby, born and educated in upstate NY, was a prominent New
York lawyer who specialized in admiralty cases (maritime law). In the
first part of this article, we left Crosby's career in 1849, at the
point when he was arriving in San Francisco on the steamship
California to join the Gold Rush.

The California Arrives in
San Francisco
On February 28, 1849, the ship arrived in San Francisco, a nearly
deserted town. The population had shrunk to about 300, mostly women,
children and a few old men. The crew of the California immediately
deserted to the gold fields (everyone referred to them as "the
mines"). Newly arrived gold-seekers, including most of Crosby's
fellow passengers, were desperately trying to find some way to get to
Sacramento and the mines. There were no boats left in the city.
Meanwhile, they were living on the streets or in canvas shanties.
Some of them rented "lodgings" in freight crates on the streets, the
more expensive ones equipped with some straw to sleep upon. But not
Crosby. He knew Dr. Leavenworth, who was then serving under the
Military Governor as the Alcalde of San Francisco (similar to a
Mayor). Leavenworth invited him to share his quarters in the old City
Hotel. "Connections" were as valuable then as they are in our day.

It was then that Crosby
demonstrated that he possessed the qualities of initiative and
leadership as well as good connections. Within three days he had
located an abandoned whaleboat, had it repaired and lined up six
fellow passengers from the California to row it up to Sutter's Fort
(Sacramento). Each man contributed $50 for the privilegewhich
paid for the boat. They shoved off on March first and arrived at the
Sacramento landing on the tenth. As in San Francisco, Crosby was
invited to stay with the local Alcalde, Frank Bates. At some point,
Crosby encountered the Boatswain of the steamer California, Morris,
who offered $300 to rent Crosby's whaleboat in order to return to San
Francisco for suppliesa sweet profit for Crosby on a short-term
investment that was already paid off.

Away to the Mines
Crosby soon left for the mines, with his friend Henry E. Robinson
whom he had met at Panama. They spent most of the following two years
together and became lifelong friends. First they traveled to Mormon
Island at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the American
River. Crosby traded coin that he had brought from New York City for
gold dust at a handsome profit. Then they went to Sutter's Mill and
met John Marshall who showed them how the gold discovery had been
made. Somewhere along the way, they did some gold panning without a
great deal of success. Crosby then returned to Sacramento and bought
some city lots from Captain Sutter, who had just finished laying out
the first city plat for Sacamento. Later in April he returned to San
Francisco and sent his gold dust (mostly acquired by trading) home on
the steamer Oregon, which carried the first mail and shipment of gold
to the east.

His Town is Surrounded by a Lake
In July, Crosby was back in the Sacramento region
speculatingbig timein real estate. He bought a large
piece of land from Sutter and laid out the town of Vernon across from
the mouth of the Feather River (at its confluence with the
Sacramento) and sold lots. Vernon grew rapidly to a town of 600-700
people. Unluckily for Crosby's place in history, when the floods came
that winter, Vernon was isolated by miles of water on all sides. This
was intensely discouraging to its new residents, who dismantled their
houses the next summer and moved elsewhere. Marysville became the
local population and commercial center instead of Vernon, which
disappeared. During this time, Crosby also guided a delegation from
Washington DC that had arrived in Sacramento to carry out the
official U.S. Government investigation of the California gold mines
(apparently there were still disbelievers in the east).

The California Constitutional
Convention and Election
In August, Crosby's life took another significant turn when he was
elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. Everyone
agreed that California needed a civilian government as soon as
possible - preferably a democratically elected state government (as
opposed to a congressionally imposed territorial government). The
existing military government, which had already been in place about
three years, was increasingly resented for its temporary and
arbitrary nature and its inability to provide law and order.
Congress, which was nearly paralyzed by the growing political
conflict between the north and south, had not made much progress
towards supplying California with a territorial government. The
Military Governor, General Bennett Riley, called for a state
constitutional convention and urged the people to take things into
their own hands and bypass the territorial stage by creating a State
government. He thought that by presenting Congress with a fait
d'accomplis, Californians would get what they wanted. In response to
his call, the Constitutional Convention convened in Monterey,
(California's titular capital), on September 1, 1849. The meetings
were held in picturesque Colton Hall, which still stands today in
downtown Monterey (see photograph). Crosby was there as an elected
delegate from Sacramento, and was elected Chair of the Finance
Committee.

Crosby wrote a memoir of the convention. His manuscript has been
evaluated by its editor as the best memoir from the Constitutional
Convention. It is especially rich in pungent thumbnail descriptions
of his fellow delegates and their individual contributions to the
constitution-writing process. Crosby himself, at age 31, was one of
the younger delegates, but better educated and with more legal
knowledge and experience than most. His finance Committee dealt with
two main issues; funding the expenses of the Convention itself, and
funding the new state government-to-be. He persuaded Governor Riley
to pay the convention's expenses from the sizeable fund of customs
receipts (about $600,000) that the military government had been
accumulating since taking over the Mexican Government's Monterey
Customs House at the time of the conquest in 1846. In the meantime,
the U. S. Government had decided that it had no rights to this money,
but sent Riley no instructions on what to do with it. Crosby
persuaded Riley and the Convention that the military government
should turn this money over to the new state to get it going.
Crosby's other main interest at the Convention was to argue for an
appointed state judiciary, in order to insulate the judicial process
from the heat and turmoil of politics. He lost, and today we have an
elected judiciary.

During the Constitutional Convention the Military Governor appointed
Crosby as Election Prefect for the Sacramento District. Crosby then
returned to Sacramento on October 1 to organize the first state
election in that region. The Constitutional election was held
November 13, 1849. The voters ratified the state constitution and
chose state legislators and executive officers. Crosby's district,
which included many of the mining districts, returned nearly half of
the total state vote (6,052 ballots out of 12,872). He had organized
the polling and gathered the vote at his own expense, about $1,700
(later reimbursed). He was elected the State Senator for Sacramento.

The Father of California Law?
On December first, Crosby went to San Jose, the new State Capital, to
get ready for the legislative session. His friend Henry Robinson, who
had also been elected to the state senate, came along two weeks
later. The legislature convened December 15, 1849 - this was the
infamous "Legislature of a Thousand Drinks". This tag line originated
in the practice of one heavy-drinking delegate who closed out each
session with a hearty "Well, boys, let's go and take a thousand
drinks". In contradiction of the image that the tag conveys, Crosby
says that "Šthere was very little dissipation among the members in
general compared to legislatures of later days..,"
However, that may be, the legislative facilities were cramped and
relatively primitive, there was almost no lodging available in the
pueblo for the legislators, and no real restaurants or inns. As soon
as the legislature recessed, the promoters of Benicia, Vallejo and
Sacramento began agitating to remove the Capital to their towns, each
promising to build a capacious Capitol building. The "thousand
drinks" label was widely used to disqualify San Jose. The capital
was, in fact, moved to Benicia the following year, and finally to
Sacramento several years later.

Crosby was elected Chair of the Judiciary Committee and held that
post through the first two sessions (1849 and 1850). He led the
committee and the legislature to adopt English common law as the
basic system of law for the state, while retaining superior elements
of Mexican law, such as joint property rights for married couples. He
did most of the work, and he could be considered "the father of
California's legal system". His committee also organized the State
Supreme Court and District Courts, and divided California into
Counties. Quite a string of accomplishments for a 31-year-old lawyer
from rural upstate New York!

Private Law Practice in the 1850s
Crosby lived with his friend Henry Robinson during the winters of
1849-50 and 1850-51, and much of the time until 1860. He was
practicing law in Sacramento. However, he may have spent time in
either San Jose or San Francisco, as he was listed as a Director of
the Pacific and Atlantic Railroad Company founded on September 6,
1851, a precursor company to the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad.
By 1852 he was no longer a state senator, and he left Sacramento for
San Francisco and private law practice. The 1854 San Francisco
Directory lists him as an attorney with a San Francisco office
address. However, he declared, in late 1854, that his residence was
in San Jose.

Crosby specialized as an attorney for claimants of titles to land
grants. He appeared on behalf of his clients, mostly Spanish-speaking
californios like the Robles family, before the U.S. Land Claims
Commission organized in 1852. He eventually argued over 100 of the
total 812 claims presented during the commission's lifetime from
January 1852 to March 1856. He handled the Mesa case involving land
that eventually became part of Barron Park. He filed cases from all
over the state - San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo and
Yolo Counties - even a case for John A. Sutter in behalf of the
Mokelumne Indians. In August, 1855 he was admitted as an Attorney of
the U.S. Circuit Court, District of California.

Crosby's Short Tenure at Mayfield Farm
The first part of this article told how Secundino and Teodor Robles
deeded 250 acres of their rancho to Crosby on April 10, 1853.
Following Crosby's purchase, the legal process proceeded rapidly and
resulted in a favorable ruling on the Robles claim to the original
rancho grant from the Mexican government. Crosby benefited from the
ruling, of course, since his derivative title to Mayfield Farm was
now clear.

As noted in the first part of this article, it is impossible to know
for certain whether Crosby ever lived at Mayfield Farm, but it seems
most likely that he did, and built his substantial but unpretentious
house. He may have lived in it about one year, from late 1855 until
on or before September 23, 1856, when the ranch was conveyed by two
sheriff's deeds to John W. Armstrong as trustee for Sarah Wallis.
Wallis acquired the farm for $10,701 to satisfy Crosby's debt of
$10,000 to her.

Vigilantism and Bankruptcy
Before that happened, Crosby may have already left Mayfield Farm. The
1856 city directory shows him with a San Francisco office address
(remember that this was before the days of easy commuting; the city
was still a day's travel from Mayfield Farm by the new stagecoach
road). It is known that he was appointed, June 10, 1856, First
Lieutenant in the Military Organization of the Vigilance Committee of
San Francisco (the Vigilantes). In early December, Crosby went
bankrupt with liabilities totaling $60,000 against assets worth
$30,000. There was a general financial collapse in California at the
time, which spread throughout the United States in 1857.

Crosby's Trip to New York
It seems that Crosby picked himself up and soldiered on. The 1858
directory shows a San Francisco office, and in 1859 a residence at
Kearny and Vallejo Streets. However, health problems may have
convinced Crosby that he should leave California. In 1859 Crosby said
goodbye to California and sailed on November 10 for Guatemala, en
route to New York. On November 25 he sighted volcanoes on the coast
as the ship approached Guatemala. From December 1859 through mid-year
1860, Crosby sojourned in the Central American republic, at some
point meeting President Carrera and establishing a relationship with
that dictator. In February he wrote about a trip to Guatemalan Indian
ruins, then in March about a visit to Totomcipan and Antigua. Before
election day in November, he had reached New York City and was there
when Lincoln's election was secured and the southern states began to
secede from the union. During the winter he went to Washington, D.C.
to argue some of his land cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Minister to Guatemala
Another high point of Crosby's life was reached on March 14, 1861
when the newly-inaugurated President Lincoln appointed him U.S.
Minister to Guatemala. He was confirmed by the Senate March 22 and
held the post for four years. This was not just a comfortable
diplomatic post in a tropical backwater, however - it was high
statesmanship and one part of Lincoln's last-minute attempts to save
the Union. Crosby's real purpose was to persuade President Carrera to
permit the United States to colonize Guatemala with freed American
slaves. Lincoln's concept was that colonization would permit gradual
emancipation without burdening the South with indigent freedmen and
their families. This pie-in-the-sky plan was designed to attract
support from moderate southern and border-state slaveowners and turn
the tide of secession. Of course, it could not work and one can only
wonder what Carrera said privately to his intimate circle after this
preposterous scheme was revealed to him. However, he was apparently
polite to Crosby.

Once the colonization
scheme was shot down and the north and south began settling
differences on the battlefield rather than in congressional debates,
Crosby settled down to a comfortable, although probably dull life in
the tiny diplomatic community of Guatemala City. He again made
friends and impressed people, to the extent that he was selected to
play a part in the most important diplomatic drama then unfolding in
the Caribbean. The British and Honduran governments were preparing
for war over issues arising from Honduras' claims of sovereignty over
the "British Protectorate of the Bay Islands of Honduras and the
Mosquito Coast and Territory" (later known as British Honduras, and
now as Belize). As part of a final attempt to settle the conflicting
claims by diplomacy, Elisha Crosby was appointed jointly by the
Honduran and British governments to be Presiding Judge and Umpire of
a "Mixed Commission" to adjust the claims. After winding up this
dispute more-or-less satisfactorily to both sides (the war was
averted), Crosby returned to the United States. Nothing is known of
his activities during the second half of the Civil War. The next we
know of him is when he went on a tour of Europe, visiting Paris
during the 1867 Exposition.

Crosby's Return to California
In 1870, Crosby returned to California for good, and resumed his law
practice in San Francisco. One wonders if he ever visited Mayfield
and rode past the Victorian gingerbread mansion Sarah Wallis had
built on his old farm. He renewed his friendship with Henry Robinson.
In 1877 Crosby started going blind and one eye was removed in the
belief that the operation would help. He moved to a small house in
Alameda and must have had money problems again, because Robinson
supplied $1,000 to help him with the purchase. Then in 1879 Robinson,
his closest friend for thirty years, died and Crosby wrote a brief
memoir and reminiscences for Robinson's sister in New York, in which
he tells many details of their friendship and life together. He hints
to her that Henry would have wanted her, as heiress, to excuse
Crosby's debt. We do not know what response, if any, he got to this
letter.
In Alameda, as everywhere Crosby went, he became popular and was soon
elected Justice of the Peace, a position he held for nine years. In
1889 he was appointed Judge of the Recorder's (or Police) Court of
the City of Alameda. He died in Alameda, following a fall, when
nearly 78 years old, on June 25, 1895.

I hope you have enjoyed this biographical sketch of one of Barron
Park's pioneers, Elisha Oscar Crosby, founder of Mayfield Farm,
lawyer, constitutionalist, father of California law, diplomat and
friend. He is remembered in our neighborhood by Crosby Place, which
is a tiny cul-de-sac off Georgia Avenue in the 1972 L'Hermitte
Subdivisiona humble tribute indeed to one of early California's
pioneers who is deserving of a far more prominent memorial.

Eight local artists displayed their works at this year's May Fete.
They are:
Erica Anderson
Kat Beyer
Erin Castellon
Laura Content
Sabra Driscoll
Christine Heegaard
Gale Henshel
Edith Smith
We appreciate their participation, and hope that more Barron Park
artists will join the festivities next year. Please contact Mary Jane
Leon at 493-5248, if you are interested in displaying your work.

Seniors Lunch in the Park
By the time you read this, we will have had our June lunch at Bol
Park. Steve at Driftwood Deli supplies box lunches, as he did last
year. Seniors really enjoy the lunches in the park, and we always
have a big turnout. It's easy to walk around and talk to people,
without any of the distractions one has in restaurants. Our next
lunch in the park will be in August, so if you would like to join us,
get in touch with one of the people at the end of this column.

Poking Around the Web
We don't spend a lot of time web surfing at our house, since we have
old computers and sloooow dial-up service. But once in a while there
is something worth the tedium of waiting for the screen to finish
"painting." The site www.elderlawanswers.com is
one that we recommend. We have been trying to get an honest
evaluation of the worth of revocable trusts, to compare them with
simple wills for people, like us, who have very simple estates. Of
course, the trust lawyers can tell you all the advantageswhich
seem to consist mostly of avoiding probate. But a trust, in itself, does
not cut down on inheritance taxes, and your estate will still have to
go through probate for anything not signed over to the trust. We
found a good article about trusts at the web site given above, and so
know a lot more now than we used to. Use it for other questions of
concern about older peoples' issues.

New BPA Members, Courtesy of
BP Seniors
This spring, the Barron Park Association initiated a new program to
increase membershipa second mailing to any household that
didn't sign up when the first membership forms went out in the spring
newsletter. And who did all the work getting out that mailing to more
than a thousand homes: stuffing, stamping, and sealing? A team of ten
BP seniors: Ann Boeckling, Harriet Moss, Pat Eldridge, Denise
Atherton, Jean Olsen, Jack Sutton, Bob Frost, Herb Goral, Mary Jane
Leon, and straw boss Don Anderson. We spent an enjoyable morning at
Jean Olsen's house and ended our work session with a nice lunch from
Su Hong, courtesy of the BPA. A good way to get a job done quickly
and well is to get the seniors on it.

Seniors Helping Children
Be sure to read an article elsewhere in this newsletter by Shari
Daiuto about the volunteer work Sheila Mandoli is doing. She manages
a program that gets seniors and others involved with children who
attend our local schoolsreading or sharing other interests.

Referral Service for Local
Businesses
One of our new members of the Barron Park Association wondered if we
had a neighborhood referral service for home repair providers and
local merchants. It would be nice, wouldn't it, to have someone we
trust give us a recommendation when we need a plumber and don't know
who to call, or when our gardener gets too sloppy. On the other hand,
it would take a bit of time for an individual or group to maintain
such a directory, and keep it current. Any interest? Contact Mary
Jane or Julie, and we will help you get started.

We can certainly recommend Avenidas Senior Home Repair service. Last
week they sent us a painter for a small touch-up job on the
sun-damaged back of our house. He did thorough prep, priming, and
painting, and cleanupreally careful and professional. A while
back, Avenidas was getting some negative comments about their
service, but recently we have heard nothing but good.

Our Services for Seniors
We continue to have a group of active volunteers who offer to help
out their Barron Park neighbors by doing the following:

Run an errand for you or with you.

Do small odd jobs at your home.

Stop by for a visit, or give you a daily phone call.

Find information that you might need about any specific community
service available to local seniors.

You can reach Mary Jane Leon at 493-5248 or email; Julie
Spengler at 493-9151 or [email withheld]

Without a doubt, the Barron Park Donkeys benefit from care by the
most incredibly well qualified team of donkey handlers anywhere. As
you will see in the profiles below, numbered among these volunteers
are a malacologist (mollusk scientist), an experimental psychologist
turned software engineer, a molecular biologist, and a railroad
magnate. This is the first in a series of articles introducing the
community volunteers devoted to the care, feeding, and parental
nurturing of the Barron Park donkeys, Miner Forty-Niner ('Niner) and
Pericles (Perry). Niner and Perry are the most recent in a long line
of donkeys that have become a neighborhood institution in Barron Park
over the years.

Our neighborhood's trademark donkeys are cared for entirely by
volunteers from Barron Park and the surrounding community. In
addition to feeding the boys twice a day, keeping their corral and
shed clean and orderly, taking them for occasional walks, and
bringing them out to meet the neighbors in Bol Park every Sunday
morning, these volunteers also pick up and deliver loads of hay, make
sure the donkeys receive regular attention from the vet and the
farrier (horse shoe-er), and keep them clean and well curried. Read
on, to meet some of the terrific crew that cares for the Barron Park
donkeys!

Gene Coan
Gene has been a donkey handler for the past two years. He says he
enjoys having donkey "pets," while being able to share the pet owner
duties and responsibilities with twenty other volunteers. Gene came
to Palo Alto when he became a Stanford graduate student in 1964. He
lived in various Palo Alto neighborhoods until 1970, when he moved
into his present residence on San Jude in Barron Park.
Professionally, Gene has specialized in the study of mollusks, and
has served as president of the Western Society of Malacologists. He
has also worked actively for the Sierra Club in various capacities,
currently as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director. Gene received
his AB from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and his
PhD from Stanford University. In his rare moments of spare time, he
enjoys trail running and backpacking.

Brandy Faulkner
When Brandy was in elementary school, she lived in Barron Park rode
her bike with her family to feed carrots to Mickey, the then-reigning
Barron Park donkey. After having lived in other parts of Palo Alto
for the last 20 years, she's once again back in Barron Park on Shauna
Lane. Since feeding of the donkeys by the general public is not
encouraged these days for nutritional reasons, Brandy says she
"decided to volunteer as a caretaker and handler in order to get my
donkey fix!" Brandy has been a donkey handler for about ten months,
and the thing she likes best about it is getting to work with both
kids and animals on Sundays at Bol Park. Says Brandy: "I also find it
very relaxing and healthy to go to the enclosure once a week (on my
feeding shift) to feed Perry and Niner after a stressful day at work.
They're always so happy to see me! I'm continually amazed and proud
that we have such a progressive community, devoting such time and
effort to making our community-owned donkeys part of the neighborhood
culture."

Brandy attended Palo Alto High School before going on to U.C. Santa
Cruz, where she received a degree in Molecular, Cellular and
Developmental Biology. For the last 4 years, she has helped to run a
non-profit shark research organization called the Pelagic Shark
Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, specializing in shark
conservation, education and advocacy. Her hobbies include mountain
biking, surfing, rugby, and making hand-made soaps.

Norm Copperman
Norm has lived in his Barron Park house on Los Robles for the last 25
years. He has volunteered as a donkey hander since three years ago,
and enjoys both the donkeys themselves (Who doesn't love Perry and
Niner?), and the chance to do something for the community. Norm
received a bachelor's degree from California State College at
Hayward, and MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto. His
major all the way through school was experimental psychology, which
he taught for just one semester after graduation and then spent the
next 30 years as a software engineer. Norm worked for such companies
as Honeywell, Litton, and Atari, before retiring in 2000. When he
works these days, he's a jazz piano player, performing in combos at
restaurants and private parties.

Eric Struck
Eric was born in Barron Park and has lived here for all of his 38
years. He has been a donkey handler for the past four years, and is
always ready to help out with Perry and Niner at neighborhood events
like the May Fete and the Holiday Donkey Parade in the winter. Eric
says he signed up because he wanted to help continue a community
tradition that he remembers from his youth. He always loved to visit
Mickey when he was a kid, and decided it was time for his generation
to begin picking up the baton and carrying forward this noble
neighborhood tradition. Eric has a fascinating hobby; in his spare
time he is proprietor of the "Barron Park Garden Railway," an
elaborate G-gauge backyard railroad right here in our neighborhood.
Look for the yellow signs around Barron Park on weekend afternoons
and take the kids to see this special attraction at Eric's house on
Kendall Avenue.
Are you a donkey fan?

Get to know the Barron Park donkeys better by becoming one of their
handlers! Just a few minutes a week, no experience necessary. Contact
Don Anderson, (650) 494-8672, or email.
Want to support the Barron Park Donkeys? To make a tax deductible
donation for the care of our donkeys, mail a check made out to "The
Palo Alto Donkey Project" to:

This fall hundreds of students will be attending Terman Middle School
at its new campus on Arastradero Road. The Palo Alto Unified School
District, the City of Palo Alto, and PTA representatives from nearby
neighborhoods have been working to ensure that students can get to
their new school safely when it opens.

The team hopes to minimize traffic congestion around the school and
to encourage low-impact commuting strategies such as biking, walking,
and carpooling. Many students who live in the foothills will be able
to take a subscription bus to campus. Terman is a neighborhood
school, and most families polled reported plans to include bicycling,
walking, and bussing in their commute.

In preparation for the fall opening, the City is making physical
improvements to the Arastradero/Donald intersection, where left turn
lanes on Arastradero will expedite turns into the school and onto
Donald. On campus, the District is redesigning the parking lots to
create both bus and car drop-off and pick-up areas and building a
bicycle path to the new bicycle-parking cages.

Crossing guards will be in place at Donald and Coulombe to assist
students crossing Arastradero to the school. For the first two weeks
of school, crossing guards will also be in place at the following
intersections: Margarita/El Camino, Maybell/El Camino, Arastradero/El
Camino and Maybell/Coulombe. Traffic levels will be evaluated for the
first two weeks of school, and crossing guards will remain posted
only at locations with heavy crossing volumes.

Motorists who drive regularly during school commute times should be
especially cautious. To share the road safely with students who are
bicycling and walking, keep speeds slow and be aware of other road
users. Make sure to eliminate hazards like foggy car windows and
distractions like the last few bites of breakfast while traveling in
school commute zones.

BPA sponsored our annual Neighborhood Meeting on Sunday afternoon,
April 6. While these meetings have enjoyed large attendance in the
past (over 100 people last year), there was a much smaller group this
year. There were updates on Rickey's Hyatt and Alma Plaza (see ZALU
article), the Matadero pedestrian/bike path, Bol Park renovations and
the El Camino Real design guidelines. City Manager Frank Benest gave
a presentation about the City's budget planning process and proposed
service reductions based on work by City staff and the results of
public surveys and neighborhood meetings.

Mayor Dena Mossar talked about partnerships at the local, regional,
state and national levels. In particular, she mentioned the Shop Palo
Alto campaign that encourages Palo Alto residents to shop at local
stores to keep sales tax dollars in our community.

During an informal Question & Answer period, residents voiced
concerns about ways to encourage neighborhood-serving retail along El
Camino and California Avenue, proposed reductions in City services,
and traffic safety issues, both in our neighborhood and throughout
Palo Alto. In addition, appreciation was expressed for the City's
renovation of Bol Park last year.

The purpose of these neighborhood meetings is for the BPA Board to
hear firsthand the issues that concern our community. The meetings
also allow personal contact with City staff and officials for updates
on programs that impact Barron Park. Next year, we will send postcard
reminders about the meeting so that more voices can be heard.
BPA Sponsors a Bench at the New Reading Garden at Barron Park Elementary School

A new Reading Garden is being built at Barron Park Elementary School.
The main goals for the garden were to create a welcoming entry to the
school and to provide an outdoor setting for classes, school events
and celebrations. In addition, we know that many of our neighbors use
the school grounds after hours as a place for recreation and
relaxation.

The PTA worked with an artist hired by the School District to develop
a concept that brings Matadero Creek out to the front of the school.
Curving concrete paths reminiscent of creek beds are lined with tiles
featuring students' drawings of the flora and fauna of the creek.
Concrete amphitheatre seating faces a low platform with the arched
trees overhead forming a natural proscenium. Low water use plants are
used with decomposed granite and boulders to enhance the natural
setting. Additional plantings, lighting, benches and trashcans are
planned.

The Barron Park Association has approved payment for a bench that
will be dedicated to all our Barron Park neighbors. It will be
located in the shade under the trees with views of the playing fields
and play structures. The BPA hopes to make similar donations to our
other neighborhood schools in the future.

We know that many families are facing financial difficulties now, but
are hoping that some of you could contribute to this beautification
effort for the gateway to the school. The Barron Park owner of a
garden featured in last month's Gamble Garden tour made a donation to
kick off the campaign. A request sent to the BPA email list has
resulted in several contributions from our neighbors.

Can you help out? You can drop off or mail your tax-deductible
donation at the school office at 800 Barron Avenue. Be sure to make
it payable to the Barron Park PTA and note that it's for the Reading
Garden. Any amount will help out. Feel free to contact either of us
if you have questions.

The downturn in the economy has had a marked impact on new
development in our neighborhood, although new single family homes
continue to sprout throughout Barron Park. There has been little
change since our last newsletter but here are some updates on current
projects in (or near) our community.

4131 El Camino
A three-story, mixed-used project on the El Camino Island is
currently under construction. It will contain two levels of
underground parking, ground floor retail and office space, and
residential units above. The owner has been talking to possible
tenants to provide neighborhood-serving retail uses, such as a
sandwich shop, coffee shop, or hair salon. Construction should be
complete at the end of this year.

Old Blockbuster Site
A revised plan for a nine-unit condominium project was submitted for
the Old Blockbuster site at the corner of El Camino and Vista Way,
but the application is not yet complete. Neighbors have voiced
concerns about auto access and adequate on-site parking for the
project so that on-street parking is not unduly impacted along Vista.
A final application is pending receipt by the City.

Albertson's at Alma Plaza
The proposed development at Alma Plaza has been put on hold pending
the completion of a traffic study along Charleston between the Sun
property and Gunn High School. The project sponsors were dismayed by
the inclusion of their project in the Charleston Corridor moratorium
and the viability of proceeding after the delay is in question.

While many Barron Park residents favor an enlarged and redeveloped
market at the site, some neighbors adjacent to the property and in
Barron Park oppose it. There is talk about possible public forums for
discussions between people interested in the project, either
supporting or opposed. Watch the BPA email list for information.

Ricky's Hyatt (at El Camino and Charleston)
The plans for an expanded hotel and 300 units of multi-family housing
are also on hold pending completion of the traffic study for the
Charleston Corridor. The Planning Commission and City Council will
review the final Environmental Impact Report and plans after the
study is complete.

Check this column in each newsletter for project updates or contact
me if you have any questions on development in our neighborhood at
493-3035 or email.

We are so fortunate to live in a neighborhood where people are
willing to share. Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sheila
Mandoli, a 50-year Barron Park resident, to talk about a wonderful
program that's taking place in both Barron Park and Juana Briones
Elementary Schools.

For the past three years, Sheila has managed a program that connects
volunteers, either older students or seniors, with elementary school
children. Each volunteer is assigned to a specific child. The
volunteer regularly spends time and engages that child in reading
activities, music appreciation or simply sharing a special interest
or hobby. Children enjoy having someone upon whom they can rely and
look forward to seeing every week. Not only do the children learn new
skills from their dedicated volunteers, they also benefit from the
stability of seeing the same person.

Volunteers also benefit from working with our elementary students.
Senior volunteers can enjoy connecting with a younger person who's
just starting out in life. By sharing their wisdom of lifetime
experiences, these volunteers may even learn something new about
what's happening in the child's world. High school students who
volunteer can earn community service credit while picking up some
parenting skills.

Our Barron Park community also benefits from this special volunteer
program. By getting involved, people get to know their neighbors. It
also helps our neighborhood children gain a solid foundation for a
lifetime of learning.

Please consider becoming a volunteer. Currently, there's a particular
need for volunteers who are bilingual in Thai or Mandarin, but all
interested are welcome. It's a volunteer opportunity thatís
literally, close to home.

If you'd like more information or are interested in participating in
this program, please contact Sheila Mandoli. She can be reached at
650-493-2361, ext. 19 or [email withheld].

Playgroups and Babysitting Playgroup for 0-4 year olds and their
moms. Juana Briones Park. Second and fourth Wednesday of each month
at 4:00 PM. Contact Shari -- email.
Playgroup for incoming Kindergarten families. Bol Park. Second and
fourth Saturday of each month from 2:00-4:00 PM. Call Katja at (650)
320-8743 or Jessica at (650) 424-9359. Barron Park's Babysitting
Co-op is open for enrollment. Contact Katy Mast at (650) 856-6969 or
[email withheld].

Just for Fun: It's summer and a great time to play outdoors
with bubbles. The following recipe for homemade bubble solution is
taken from www.kidsdomain.com:

1/2 cup dish soap

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons sugar

Medium sized mixing bowl or cup

Spoon

Sealed container (jar with lid)

Mix together the soap, water and sugar. Don't stir or shake too much.
Store in a sealed container.

[Editor's note: we chose to not show all of the wonderful photos
published in the paper newsletter. To receive our quarterly
newsletters, see our BPA
Membership Form.
However, to see some extra photos of the May Fete, click here].

May Fete 2003 was held in the newly-renovated Bol Park, its
traditional home, on Sunday May 18. About 400 people attended the
Fete in perfect weather. The park is more beautiful than ever with
baby Redwoods more than 60 feet tall, and the new playground is the
most popular play place the neighborhood has ever known.

Main Events
As always in recent years, the Fete was kicked off by a neighborhood
Pet Parade from Barron Park School, led by Inge Harding-Barlow and
the Barron Park Donkeys. Following this, the Fete was on, with music,
art and history exhibits and food and drink tables. The show "Dog
Agility For Fun" was given by the volunteer group of the same name.
The show was held in the back of the park where there was enough
space for the dogs to be put through all their maneuvers. Later in
the afternoon, the main event, the Maypole Procession and Dance, was
orchestrated by our new Maypole Leader, Bob Frayley.

Focus on Kids
The focus of the fete this year was on children and youth, and the
musical program reflected this with performances by both Terman
Middle School and Gunn High School groups. The Terman Jazz Ensemble
presented a half-hour of scintillating jazz and pops tunes to
everyone's great enjoyment. Following them was the Gunn Jazz Combo
with another half-hour of cool and sophisticated jazz. The main
performance was by Harmon's Peak. Gary Breitbard played for the
Maypole procession and Dance, while Lynn Michael started the musical
program at Noon with her performance on the harp.

An essential part of every fete is plentiful refreshments. The BPA
sold Senor Taco burritos, soft drinks and Baskin-Robbins ice cream,
with profits going to defray some of the costs of putting on the
fete, while Barron Park School PTA put on a bake sale and volunteers
from the Leukemia Foundation sold lemonade and coffee.

Girl Scout Troop #504 did face-painting for the kids. Palo Alto Fire
Department EMR Explorer Post #5 provided first aid services and
parking control and the Palo Alto Police Community Services did
bicycle registration. The Barron Park donkeys wandered through the
crowd and Julia Dawson brought her two pet sheep for the enjoyment of
kids young and old.

A new feature of this year's fete was the exhibit of one of the two
original Barron Park Volunteer Fire Department fire trucksa
1950 GMC Pumper. The owner, Al Larsen of Paradise Way, was standing
by to answer questions from the curious. A panel of photographs and
clippings covering the 26-year history of the Fire Department and its
parent body the Barron Park Fire Protection District was included in
Doug Graham's ongoing Barron Park History Exhibit. The Palo Alto
Historical Association displayed an exhibit focused on the history of
the greater southwest Palo Alto area.

A Host of Volunteers
The May Fetes are one of the features that make life in Barron Park
so enjoyable. However, they don't happen by themselvesit takes
months of planning and an enormous amount of work to make them
happen. This year, at least 60 volunteers collaborated to bring it
about. We thank them all for doing their part in making this
neighborhood celebration possible.

In June, 2003, Mick McDonald, the long-time leader of emergency
preparedness for the City of Palo Alto, will retire. Mick's impact on
emergency preparedness has been exceptional. With his vision and
leadership, Palo Alto developed the Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster
Activity (PANDA) program. This program has trained nearly 250 Palo
Alto residents in emergency disaster assistance, in order to assist
the Office of Emergency Services and the Palo Alto Fire Department
during a major catastrophe.

Mick also was the Palo Alto City liaison with the Barron Park
Association in the development of Living with our Faults, the now
classic primer for dealing with the earthquake hazard in the Bay Area.
The Barron Park Association thanks Mick for his years of dedication
to emergency preparedness in Palo Alto and wishes him well in his
retirement to Oahu. Aloha!

New Emergency-Preparedness Structure in the City of Palo Alto
(adapted from an e-mail received from Palo Alto Fire Chief Ruben
Grijalva on Monday 19 May 2003)

The City of Palo Alto has recently restructured its
emergency-preparedness program. Previously, emergency preparedness
was isolated in the Fire Dept. The city is creating an Emergency
Preparedness Operational Group composed of key personnel from all
city departments. This Operational Group is headed by Deputy Fire
Chief Judy Jewell, who will oversee the Office of Emergency Services.
In addition, Police Chief Lynne Johnson will head up the Emergency
Preparedness Steering Group, composed of city department heads. The
leadership of this Steering Group will rotate yearly between the
Police Chief and the Fire Chief.

The City of Palo Alto also will convene an Emergency-Preparedness
Round Table once a quarter with outside groups such as the Red Cross,
neighborhood associations, and the Emergency Council. The City
Manager's Office is charged with coordinating this effort. The Barron
Park Association is represented on this Round Table.
With regard to PANDA training and continuing education of existing
PANDAs, Fire Chief Grijalva wrote that the Palo Alto Disaster
Coordinator (Barbara Cimino) will be paired with a Palo Alto Fire
Battalion Chief who has an emergency-preparedness background, so that
the City will maintain the two-person training team and its on-going
level of PANDA training.

Water, water everywhereexcept in an emergency!
We are all accustomed to "water on demand". Just turn on the faucet,
and let the sprinklers run. Few of us have had any protracted
experience in a situation where water was not immediately available
from a reliable, virtually unlimited city source. We in Barron Park
are certainly in that situation, since all of our water is piped in
from the Sierra Nevada via the Hetch Hetchy water system.

But what happens in a big earthquake on the Hayward fault, that runs
along the base of the East Bay Hills and is crossed by the Hetch
Hetchy aqueduct? The probability is very high that a magnitude 6.7 or
7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault will rupture or severely damage
the aqueduct. Barron Park, all of Palo Alto, San Francisco, and many
other Peninsula cities will be abruptly shut off from this abundant
water supply. Faucets, toilets, sprinkling systems, and hydrants
simply won't work, probably for a period of many days.

The City of Palo Alto, the State Office of Emergency Services, the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other local, state, and
federal entities will do their best to supply emergency water for
drinking and cooking. But even these stop-gap measures will take
several days to a week to implement. Consequently, each household
must be prepared to use its own emergency water supplies for up to a
week.

Page 13 of Living with our Faults, published by the Palo Alto Fire
Department, provides excellent guidelines for emergency water. These
guidelines fall into three categories:

Water Storage - Many people choose to store emergency water,
usually in sturdy plastic bottles. The recommended amount is one
gallon per person and per pet per day. This adds up quickly; for a
household of four with one large dog, this is 15 gallons for three
days or 35 gallons for a full week. Plastic juice and milk containers
are adequate, but tend to crack and leak with time. More robust are
the heavy plastic "water cubes" available at stores such as Pure
Water Etc. in the shopping mall on Grant Road southwest of El Camino
Real in Mountain View. A three-gallon cube, a good size to lift,
costs $11.

Existing Water Sources in the Home - When we think about it, we
all have usable temporary water sources. These include (1) water from
a water heater, (2) melted ice cubes, (3) liquids from canned or
bottled goods, (4) water dipped from the flush tank of a toilet
(don't use "blue" water, and water from the bowl should be used only
for pets), (5) water from a swimming pool or a spa. Don't use
radiator water or water from water beds.

Purification of water - Various sources of water (including items
4 and 5 above) should be purified before using. After straining
particles with cheesecloth or coffee filters, water can be purified
by boiling for 5-10 minutes or by adding liquid chlorine bleach or
tincture of iodine. Many of us who backpack are familiar with pump
filtration and purification devices, available from stores like REI.
A commonly used device is a simple squeeze-bottle (the brand name is
Exstream) that contains a pre-filter to remove sediment and organic
particles, a one-micron filter that removes nearly all pathogenic
cysts such as Giardia, and a penta-iodine resin to kill virtually all
water-borne bacteria and viruses.

The bottom line is that a person can survive for weeks with minimal
food, but only a few days without water. Every household needs to
take stock of its emergency water sources and to prepare for up to a
week without water from any outside source.